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Levy money for raises? By Kelly J. Kaczala and Melissa Burden
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He mimics the adults he lives with, like all children do. John Szozda See page 8
Happy Thanksgiving The East Toledo Senior Center presented their annual Thanksgiving dinner with some help from volunteer cooks. Top left, Dennis Holdren serves dinner, family style. At right, Kim Partin and Julie Hickok, top photo, and Mary Wolff, bottom photo, prepare to wheel out the serving trays. Bottom left, Brenda Holdren stirs the corn. (Press photos by Ken Grosjean)
Genoa referendum
Tax credit stays; so what gets cut? By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com Following the defeat of an ordinance that would repeal a tax credit for village residents who pay income taxes to other municipalities, Genoa officials will be looking for ways to stretch budget revenues. Mayor Ken Harsanje last week said there have been no decisions made as to what spending cuts may be enacted. “The (village) council, administration, police chief and I will take some time to look at all the options we have and look at every line item we have budgeted for and make decisions based on what is best for the village by still providing safe, reliable service and protection,” the mayor said. By referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot, voters resoundingly rejected a village ordinance that repeals a 0.75 percent credit for residents who pay taxes to other municipalities. According to unofficial results, 806 residents voted to keep the credit and 182 voted for repealing it. The credit would have ended Jan. 1, 2017 if the ordinance had remained in effect. Mayor Harsanje argued repeal of the
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We have a lot of people who work outside the village. There are not a lot of job opportunities inside the village.
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A former president of the Oregon School Board said the district is preparing to use revenue from a 3.95 mill levy passed last year to give teachers raises. P.J. Kapfhammer, who served on the school board for three years, said at a recent board meeting that there simply is not enough money in the general fund to give teachers a raise unless revenue from the levy is used. The district’s five year forecast shows that the budget will be in the red in three years. Using revenue from the levy would violate a pledge Superintendent Hal Gregory and School Board President Carol-Ann Molnar made to voters in an ad published in The Press before the levy was on the November ballot last year. The district had failed repeatedly to get an operating levy passed since 2008. This time, though, voters approved the measure by 62.64 percent to 37.36 percent. The ad specifically stated that the $1.9 million in annual revenue from the levy, if passed, would exclusively go to maintain Career Tech and extracurricular activities. The levy revenue goes into the general fund and is not in a separate account. Earlier this year, when the district started contract negotiations with the Oregon City Federation of Teachers, Molnar and Gregory appeared to be backing off their pledge to voters. Molnar, a retired teacher, said the levy money could indeed be used for teacher raises. After her comments appeared in an article in The Press, Gregory issued a statement that said revenue would not be used for raises. “On behalf of Mrs. Carol-Ann Molnar, school board president, and myself, and, as the representatives of OCS [Oregon City Schools] who publicly committed to using the recently approved 3.95-mill levy proceeds exclusively for maintaining local Career Technical programs and extra-curricular programs, we remain committed to that promise. These funds are fully committed to the promised programs and are not available for employee raises.”
tax credit is needed to offset the loss of Local Government Funds from the state and other strains on the village budget. In 2005, the village received about $70,000 in Local Government Funds from the state. Last year, it only received $32,000, the mayor said. He noted that cost cutting measures have already been implemented, including elimination of the public works director and zoning inspector positions and assigning those responsibilities to Kevin Gladden, the village administrator.
The assistant parks director position has also been eliminated and the administration is stepping up efforts to collect delinquent income tax filings and payments and utility bills. The village income tax generated approximately $787,000 in 2015, according to administration figures. The mayor said he had no reliable projections of how much revenue would be generated by eliminating the credit. Improvements to the town hall building as well as other projects, including completing the village’s section of the Northcoast Inland Trail were being considered if the credit had been dropped. Supporters of the credit who petitioned for the referendum said it benefitted young working families in particular. “We have a lot of people who work outside the village. There are not a lot of job opportunities inside the village. If you work in Toledo, with a 2.25 percent income tax, you pay 3 percent in local taxes without the credit,” Jennifer Widmer said before the vote. She said the lack of a credit is an incentive for more mobile residents to move into neighboring townships that have no income taxes.
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